Clifton's had/has a few locations and some of them are still open. The Pacific Seas is the tropical one that is no longer. Clifton's "Brookdale" is still around and although it is not tiki at all, I highly recommend checking it out. You won't believe your eyes!!
648 South Broadway, Los Angeles, California 90014
Telephone: 213.627.1673

I heartily second that. It's worth braving downtown LA for (and you get to see some amazing old architecture along the way, too, including the numerous sad-but-lovely decaying movie palaces.) Clifton's is one of my favorite places on earth. It's magical...don't miss it!

Hopefully they will retain the "forest" decor of the lower levels. The 3rd-level has a vague regency-style, my guess is that's where the Tiki bar will be. If they have to do this, I hope it's a homage to the Pacific Seas location.

I knew the business was struggling, it's better this than have the place disappear altogether. The renovation to Cole's was pretty tasteful but I miss its former dumpy historic charm and the loss of the back room. We did gain Varnish however. I suspect the new Clifton's will be along the same lines.

If anyone wants to experience Clifton's before its eventual closing (before the renovation), I'm planning a TC group lunch there on Oct 16th...

I love tiki as much as the next person but I say NO to the tiki bar.
As far as I am concerned Clifton's needs to remain Clifton's.
As much as it kills me to say it- If it can't remain Clifton's then it needs to close.

My family has been going there forever. I never miss it when I am in CA.
It's The only place where you can sit and eat your mac n cheese next to a 90 year old white lady with pearls and gloves on on one side of you and a hobo with a trash bag for a purse on the other side. I remember getting all dolled up when I was a tiny girl and going shopping downtown with my grandma to Bullocks for her hats. Then to Mandels for shoes and off to Cliftons for a wonderful lunch. Such good memories.

I never trust these hipsters who buy landmarks.
If they were to buy it out and just close up Clifton's and make a niteclub there would be strong opposition. But if they buy it and say they will keep Clifton's and add a new venue upstairs to me it just means they will just keep Clifton's open for a year or two and then say it is losing too much money and will have to close. It is just a slow death for Clifton's. If it stays open I will be very suprised.....

I hear that loud and clear. Thankfully I made it to Clifton's twice on my last few visits to LA. Once of my good friends is married to someone who was born and raised there and she had never visited Clifton's, so I was glad to be a non-resident of Los Angeles taking them there for their first visit. As far as how cool that place is goes beyond words. That little 'chapel' or should I say 'worship booth' on the second floor was beyond amazing.

When I was there I thought "they used to have stuff like this in New York, but no more. LA is way ahead of the game in pop-cultural preservation". Then I thought that sometime in the future I might eat those words, but there was still a chance that LA would come out the hero in preservation of this nature. I guess I was wrong. All I can say is the same thing I say when places like this go away: 'glad I was there when it was, really what it was'.

Guys, give the place a chance. If all Andrew Meieran wanted to do was open a "hipster" place, believe me there are cheaper locations in downtown to start from scratch. Why pay for a place that has Clifton's brand just to gut its unique history and decor?

I like the idea of an upstairs bar, it would be cool to hang out at Clifton's late into the night. I'm willing to sacrifice the 3rd-level if that's what will save the place. Plus would a Poly-Pop homage to Clifton's South Seas (which I'm assuming is what they mean by "Tiki") be such a horrible thing?

What's happening in Downtown is really exciting, especially when a historic thoroughfare like Broadway is inching back to it's 1930's glory. Yes sometimes the crowd can get too "Hollywood" or USC Fraternity Row but for the most part most of the new nightlife (other than LA Live) is leveraging on downtown's historic character rather than destroying it.

Not every situation is going to be a Beverly Hills Trader Vic's. Again even though I miss the dumpy charm of the old Coles PE Buffet, I think they did a pretty good job of injecting new life into the place while retaining its history. Plus have you tasted the cocktails at Varnish (located inside Cole's)? It's top notch mixology.

Aside from the amazing themed decor, another great thing about Clifton's Brookdale is the "museum" on the third floor as well as all of the historical photos on the walls scattered throughout the place. I wonder what's going to happen to all that? It's like a giant Clifton's scrapbook. I would think that the new owner wouldn't be getting that stuff as he's not part of the Clifton family.